


We're Not Afraid of The Dark

by Smokeycut



Series: Earth 54 [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, But also comfort, Gen, Short & Sweet, sads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24064933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokeycut/pseuds/Smokeycut
Summary: In 1987, Selina Kyle is looking after a young girl by the name of Holly Robinson. She doesn't know how to be a big sister, or how to assuage a child's fears. All she knows is that she wants this girl's childhood to be better than her's was.
Relationships: Selina Kyle and Holly Robinson
Series: Earth 54 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716358
Kudos: 6





	We're Not Afraid of The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an anonymous prompt on tumblr.

The girl was shivering in the cold; arms tucked under her pits and legs squirming against one another. Selina sighed at the sight of her. Hardly dressed for the weather in those ripped leggings and Madonna t-shirt that was two sizes too big for her petite frame. 

“Here, kid,” Selina said softly as she shrugged off her winter coat and wrapped it around the girl. She took her chin between her thumb and forefinger and directed her to look into Selina’s emerald eyes. The girl’s own eyes were a pale, watery blue, the kind of eyes that produced far far too many tears for someone that young. “You’re going to catch your death out here if you dress like that,” She huffed.

“Sorry,” Holly muttered, tearing her eyes away and looking towards the gutter. 

“What happened to your old coat?”

“Lost it.”

Selina pursed her lips. Lost didn’t mean lost, not really. Someone must’ve jumped her, or simply pushed her around until the fear of further intimidation grew to be too much. Selina had “lost” a great many things herself, when she was Holly’s age. She had a good idea of who was responsible, too. But that wasn’t important, not in that moment. 

“Selina, can I-”

“No,” She said flatly, pulling up the collar of her shirt to offer some protection against the bitter chill. Holly chewed at the inside of her cheek.

“I wasn’t going to ask about that,” She grumbled. Selina cocked an eyebrow, as if to tell her to prove her wrong. “I was gonna ask if I could go with you tonight.”

Selina sighed, and ran a hand through her short raven hair. The cut was still fresh from last night, and it prickled against her mostly-numb fingers. She looked down at Holly, and felt a pang of sorrow. She hated to see her own reflection in the eyes of another girl, another girl who had ended up just like her. No, she thought, not just like her. Holly’s childhood would be better, safer, than her own had been. 

“You’re too young for that too,” She said. Before Holly could protest, she added “Besides, I need someone to keep Isis company while I’m away. And...”

“And?”

Selina smiled. “And if I finish up early, we can rent one of those horror movies you like so much. Deal?”

Holly made as though she was debating the offer, before finally relenting and accepting it. “Deal,” She said. 

Selina pulled the younger girl into a hug, a small moment of warmth against the sting of the cold, and carded a hand through her thick blonde curls. She breathed in deeply and then sighed, blinking away a tear that threatened to shatter her confident facade, and jostled Holly ever so gently. 

“Promise you’ll be back early?” Holly asked, an edge of fear in her small voice.

“Promise,” Selina said. Her lips curled back into a smile, and she looked to the full moon up above. She looked back down, to Holly, and she hugged the girl once again. “Remember, Holly, in the narrows, we’re can’t be afraid of the dark. We’re not afraid of the dark.”

Holly nodded into her, and steeled herself for the night. She wasn’t afraid, she couldn’t be. 

“We’re not afraid of the dark,” She repeated, as Selina walked her inside the apartment.

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudos and comment!


End file.
